Chapter 37

~Sasuke~

It was amazing how talking made things easier to bear instead of making them more real and harder to pass. But I guess that depends on the person you talk to. The rest of the afternoon we trained a little bit outside, enjoying the soft breeze that had just appeared and waiting for our clothes to dry. It was all so peaceful, and I was glad things were like this. We went back inside, had a light snack, and went to sleep.

However, it was also ironically amazing how things could change in twenty-four hours.

The peacefulness and relief that followed the talk was almost numbing. I didn't have anything to worry about, so I drifted into a tired dream, forgetting everything, something I should have never done.

It was past midnight. I was still asleep, not dreaming of anything in particular, just the blackness behind my lids. Suddenly, the blackness started to burn, like a sheet of paper, its endings curling as the fire passed through them, leaving a smoky black behind, only visible for a second before it dissolved in ashes. I opened my eyes then and sat up. I passed my hand through my hair, sweeping back the one on my face. It was damp with sweat, making me realize how hot the room was. I looked around but everything looked blurry. By now, my grogginess should have passed, but I continued to see things in a haze. But then I also smelled it. This place reeked of fire and smoke and burning. The space between the door and the floor let bright unusual light come in from the hallway when it was always just a dim one. I heard Sakura wake up and saw her from the corner of my eye look around and join her eyebrows in confusion.

"Sasuke, it's so hot in here- Sasuke?" She broke off when she saw my face. Stupid, idiot, moron, I couldn't imagine enough words to describe myself for being so careless.

"That bastard." I cursed, my fists tightening on their grasps in the bed's covers. "The place is burning up."

"What?" She exclaimed.

I stood up and hastily threw on a jacket. "Hurry up Sakura, we have to get out of here." I told her. She stared at me before snapping out and grabbing her jacket and her backpack.

I activated my Sharingan and looked around. The whole place seemed to be burning up with chakra flames. I felt Orochimaru's presence outside, but Juugo, Karin, and Suigetsu were still inside.

I turned to see if she was ready and she was. Her face was still confused but at least she wasn't in shock anymore.

"Let's go." I said while heading for the door. Just before opening it I turned back to check the room and a silver flash caught my attention. Then I diverted my eyes back to it and I saw what it was: Sakura's headband. I turned to look at her but apparently she had forgotten something else and was still distracted –and still oblivious that she was missing something more yet. Without thinking I snatched the headband from the nightstand and placed it in the pocket of my jacket.

"Sasuke, c'mon!" She exclaimed and opened the door. The flames burst in, hot and menacing, but they looked like normal fire, which meant it was fire heavily combined with chakra, way more than a normal fire technique, that was the only explanation for the way it looked. I grabbed Sakura and pushed her away from the door, covering her with my body as the flames grew and then contracted, giving the effect of an elastic band. I turned to look at her, apparently I had pinned her to the wall next to the door, our bodies pressed together, my elbows next to her face and hands pressed on her head, shoulders hunched forward. She gave me an apologetic smile.

"Sorry."

"Be careful." I said at the same time she talked. I offered my hand and she took it. "Let's get out of here."

The hallways were like the pathways to hell. Fire everywhere, extremely hot, and they seemed to stretch on and on, finally we arrived to our meeting point. The others were not there yet.

"Suigetsu, Juugo, Karin!" I yelled to the hallways. I heard three echoing responses and then they were there, the three with half-crazed, half-confused expressions.

"What's going on here?" Juugo asked in a breathless tone and coughing, the smoke was getting heavier.

"That miserable freak has placed the hideout in fire." I said in a bitter tone, my voice seemed to be filled with venom; my eyes a red thin line.

"It's not normal fire, I already tried placing water on it and it didn't quench it, not a bit." Karin said.

"Yeah, it had chakra, a very high amount of chakra; it takes more to stop it." Suigetsu said to all of us and the turned to look at me. "That's why Amaterasu can't go off until it burns everything, right? Because of the amount of chakra it has?"

"Well, that's a way to put it but it has worst things in it. Anyway, we have to find a way out; there are five exits, the main one and one on each cardinal point. Juugo, you'll go east. Karin, south. Suigetsu, north, Sakura you'll go-"

That's when it hit me, something I should have realized since I saw the fire from below the door. What was I doing? This was her chance! She could go and Madara wouldn't notice! And when he did, it would be too late! I could invent something to explain her disappearance, that didn't matter. This was what she had been waiting for!

"Sasuke?" Sakura asked, getting me out of my thoughts. I turned to look at her and then at the others.

"Forget that, you guys go, Sakura and I will check the remaining two. If one is free, yell for the others and make sure it doesn't close. Go!" I told them urgently.

"But-"

"Let's go Karin." Suigetsu interrupted her and pulled her back. Juugo gave me a knowing look that turned to Sakura. She's leaving now right?

I gave a barely noticed nod. Yes.

He nodded again, turned to stare at Sakura and ran to where I had commanded without anything else to add. I stayed there until they were out of sight and finally grabbed Sakura and ran again.

"Sasuke, where are we going? Why didn't you send me alone?" She asked from somewhere behind me. I felt a stinging at the back of my eyes and my heart pounded painfully. We were almost on the west entrance –I didn't believe the main one would be available- and there wasn't that much fire here, so it must be free to pass. I slowed my crazed run into a jog, eventually to a walk, and finally stopping, still not turning to face her. I kept staring up ahead, my arm extended behind me and grasping her arm tightly. I should have called the others already. I should have already been running to the Leaf Village with her. I shouldn't be hesitating. But I felt dead, emotionless and yet filled with a self-loathing, and she hadn't even left yet. She had said once that I was unselfish, but I wasn't. I was probably one of the most selfish persons in the world. And this time proved me right. I wanted her to stay, to take her with me, to have her with me so badly not caring for what happened, as long as I had her. I hated this.

But I had no choice, I wouldn't think about this now, I searched for a way to feel numb, to not feel anything at all, to steel myself the way I had learned to do so many years ago, the way I had stopped doing it when she arrived.

"This is your chance Sakura, our chance, the one we'd been waiting for all this time." I said in a monotone, not turning yet. I had to control myself; I had to make her leave.

"W-What do you mean?" her voice quivered, she was getting afraid of my attitude already. "Sasuke, look at me."

But I couldn't, I couldn't face her right now."It's your chance to go home."

"Home? But this is my home." She exclaimed incredulous.

My eyes closed tightly as if in pain. She was making things so complicated.

"I mean your real home. Sakura, you are going back to Konoha." I finally said, my voice breaking in the end.

~Sakura~

"I mean your real home. Sakura you are going back to Konoha." He said with his back to me so I couldn't see his expression. I opened my mouth in astonishment.

"W-What?!" I was able to stutter. "A-Are you crazy?! I can't go back, not now. What about the others? We need to help them, we-we can't just leave them!"

"They can take care of themselves." He said. And I finally got tired of him not facing me. I let go of his hand but he was holding mine tightly, his hand shaking slightly over mine. I was surprised at this, but this didn't stop me. I walk and stopped in front of him.

"I am not going back." I said, marking my every word and starting straight into his eyes. But my gaze wasn't welcome; he kept on staring to the side, not meeting me.

"Sakura, please do-"

"Please nothing; nothing you'll say will change my mind." I told him and tried to lock my gaze with him without success. "Sasuke, look at me."

"Sakura, you've been waiting for this time to come, all you've been dreaming of is having the chance to leave this place and you are now saying you won't take this opportunity?!" He exclaimed, clearly faking incredulity, but he still didn't look at me; he was completely centered in staring at the floor.

"Of course I'm not gonna take it!" I yelled at him, getting angrier as every word came out. "It's wrong and unfair and-"

"Unfair is that you won't take the chance when you have it on your face!"

"Sasuke look at me, stop avoidi-"

"Don't change the subject Sakura-"

"I'm not changing it, I just want-"

"You don't even appear to know what you want anymo-"

"Why? Because I don't want to leave you-"

"Exactly."

"I don't want to leave you! That's what I know! This is my home now Sasuke!" I finally yelled at the top of my lungs, making him look at me at last. My eyes were filled with tears of rage. Why was he so insistent? Did he want me to leave so badly? And why now? We couldn't leave the others just so I could leave.

"Never say that again." He said in a cold voice. "You don't belong here, and I don't want you to belong."

I flinched back, feeling as if he had slapped me, giving a step back. This couldn't be him talking. I knew he was saying this so I would leave; he wanted to hurt me and protect me at the same time. But I already knew that trick and it didn't work on me anymore.

"Sas-" I started to say when the sound of breaking wood behind me caught my attention. I turned and saw part of the ceiling falling some meters from us. Another blur of motion caught my eye from the other side. I saw a pale hand extending to cover my face. I gasped out loud, already beginning to twirl, when the hands caught my face and turned it around so I was staring in his direction. And then he kissed me.

His mouth collided with mine with and outstanding force. When our last kiss had been al gentle and slow, this one was like fire. I felt as if the whole world was completely on fire, one that would never extinguish, and both of us where included in the ignited moment, two outstanding flames between the hell of fire. The sensation of electric currents kept on passing through my body, so strong that if I opened my eyes I could swear I'd see the small currents like lightings passing between us. But I wasn't opening my eyes, not in a million years. I kissed him back and only now did I realize that I knew how to kiss, what to do. He wasn't being as gentle to me as he had last time either. One of his hands was grasping my hair, pulling me closer, so close I could barely breathe at all, and the other one was cupped below my face gently, but his hold was firm. This one moved from my collarbone, following my shoulder, then to my arm and moving it aside so he would grab me from my waist. My skin started burning at an alarming speed but I didn't care, I didn't care if I burned or if I didn't, I could only think about this moment, about how my heart pounded in my chest, the adrenaline cursing through me, and the thought that I was kissing him. And then it was too much for my hands. Where they had been limp wires beside me, they were now alive, the electricity and fire reviving them. They flew up, grabbing hold of his muscular neck, pulling him down to me, our lips crushing, throwing on a more passionate kiss, taking my breath away. I felt his breath caught at my reaction but he didn't push me away. The hand on my waist pulled me so that we were now completely pressed to each other, and we were now hugging and kissing and burning, all at the same time. Only now did I realize that there was something wrong about this kiss, a certain urgency from his part, and the way he kept repeating my name against my lips or when he paused to take a breath. That started to make me nervous.

He finally pulled back a little, breathing hard, and pressed his forehead with mine. I stood unmoving except for my little gasps for air. The smoke around us was heavier, making breathing even more difficult.

"Sakura." He whispered in a low throaty voice, sending a shiver down my back and making my head swim and my belly twinge.

"Yo-You keep saying my name… why?" I said, my voice –much to my embarrassment- shook. I hear him snort a chuckle at that.

"Don't leave…stay…please…" He begged, pleading lightly, the way you do when you know nothing would change. His hands were both pressed at the side of my face.

"I'll stay." I promised and tiptoe to kiss him again. His hands, pressed to my face, tightened their grip, trying to make me stay where I was, stopping me from kissing him, but his mouth kept brushing mine, he kept leaning down to kiss me, not only my lips, but my cheek, my forehead, the lid of my eye, the corner of my mouth, seemingly he was torn in two. Another crack of the wood above us froze his lips and he finally chose sides. He pulled back and stared down at me.

"I'll miss you." He said in a clear, pained, and serious voice, his eyes reflecting his emotions.

"No Sasuke-" I started to say when he suddenly disappeared. I looked around, baffled, and then I felt his chin resting on my shoulder, just between it and my neck, his breathing on my ear making me shiver.

"I'm sorry Sakura." he said in a detached voice,

"Sasuk-"

"I love you."

After that, a stab of pain filled my neck and I saw black spots in my eyes, clouding my vision like rain clouds in the sky. The whole place, the flames, the smoke, it all disappeared like dust flying away, and it was replaced by darkness. He did it again, exactly the same way he had done it three years ago. The only difference was the words he mouthed at the last moment and the motive, because now it was to protect me and last time had been to protect himself from discovery. Those very same words kept echoing in my head, and they would for a very long time. "I love you…."

OH NO! Is she going to leave? Or is something going to happen?D:
XD ok that's enough suspense for today XD
So what do you think? Like? Dislike? Did I ruin it? XDD

Please tell me your opinion! Love you all!:D

And thanks for following ^^